(Credit: @Eyal Regev)

The Menuhin Festival Gstaad has announced a program change for its Sept. 2, 2026 concert. 

The festival said that “soprano Julia Lezhneva has had to cancel her concert on 2 September at the Saanen Church due to an acute throat infection.”

As a result, male soprano Maayan Licht will step in at short notice.

Licht is a winner of the 2025 OPER! Award and has performed at Theater an der Wien, Bayreuth Baroque Opera, Oper Dortmund, Janáček Theatre, and in Brno.

He will perform with the Kammerorchester Basel and will present “Sopranista Fireworks” — a virtuosic Baroque program of arias and orchestral works by Vivaldi, Handel, Purcell, Porpora, Broschi, and Giacomelli.